Google Web Crawler is the tool used by Google to crawl websites and to rank them. All sites get crawled eventually, but you can increase the frequency in which your website gets crawled.
Google doesn’t really reveal how web crawler works or provide data on how often they crawl websites. But research and hints from the up-above cloud, means that we know a few things about how you can force Google to crawl your website.
Why Your Website Needs to Be Crawled
Your website needs to be crawled because this is how your fresh content gets to the top of Google. Without getting crawled, your new content is making no SEO impact.
The moment that your website is crawled is the moment that your new content can be ranked. And a single new blog or article could easily lead to your website moving up the rankings towards that coveted number one spot. As you know we suggest posting as regularly as possible, with your keyterms in mind, to help keep your website, but also the SERPs (Search Engine Ranking Pages) fresh.
Changes to Indexing
So what happens when you make changes to your website?
The changes to the index can happen quickly or slowly. There’s no data to state what you need to do to encourage fast changes to indexing.
But it’s true that Google is getting quicker at crawling through making changes to its indexing. Recent volatility in search results in 2018 detail that Google may be making changes to indexing in the coming weeks and months.
Tips to Get Found
Without any concrete data and a lot of guesswork, you sometimes have to get found and force Google to visit you. These are the tips you should follow to get found.
- Wait – This is the easiest way to get found. Wait and your website will likely get crawled in a matter of a week or two. It’s the easiest option but the least efficient option.
- Generate a Buzz – Google will crawl web pages if they see lots of traffic going to it, particularly if they don’t have the site URL in its index. If you can get a buzz going from the start you lessen the time it takes to get crawled.
- Make a Request – The Google Search Console is a great tool because you can ask Google to crawl your website. Make a request to them through that and your page will be crawled within a few hours.
Google Search Console
The Google Search Console is your place to get in contact with Google. Previously, you had a monthly quota on how many times you could request the Google Web Crawler to crawl a certain URL. This limit was recently removed with no explanation from Google.
It’s as easy as clicking a button and filling in the relevant fields. But since Google is so fast with its web crawler, it’s rarely worth using.
Only if you’re in a hurry will you need to utilize this option. Once you get into regular content habits, it’ll be easier for Google to understand you’re a great website to follow and rank well. It’s in the early stages that this can take the longest. Once you’re being found in the Search Engines, make sure you keep updating your content regularly to keep this momentum.
Force Google to Visit
When needed, you can force Google to visit your website through the Google Search Console. However, the web crawler is so efficient these days that you will rarely need to exercise this option.
Generally, the more traffic your page is getting the more Google is going to take notice.
Don’t forget your Metas
No, it’s not the yummy Italian food we are talking about here, it’s Meta titles and Descriptions. While you’re checking out your rankings, making sure Google and the other search engines have you’re back and are listing you, take a note of how your title and descriptions in the listings look too. These are called “snippets” in Google and are the bit of short blurb underneath the listing. Make sure they’re the right length and tell the searcher what the page contains for maximum open rates.
Recent data from Yoast shows that Google have gone back to 150-170 characters for meta descriptions, so if you added extra content in recently after Google said they were extending the snippet length, you best get re-editing.
If you’d like help with your website visibility, contact us at Info@digienable.co.uk and ask about our SEO Services.